Tag: A Lonely Broadcast

Books

Reading Recap 2025!

by Zaheerah1 Comment on Reading Recap 2025!
Reading Recap 2025!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful end to 2025 and a lovely new year! I’ve read a lot in 2025, reaching 101 books! Which, according to Goodreads, is actually one of my highest reading years ever! The last time I actually read this many books in a year was back in 2018 – which I was my first year of university!

I don’t usually set goals for myself in the new year (aside from reading ones) but after dabbling in different hobbies in 2025, it made me realise I want to set myself some creative goals for 2026.

  • Continue working with watercolour paints!
    • I picked up watercolour paints as an activity to do during the Summer Hours at work. (which is working extra hours in the week to have Friday afternoon off). I began painting the covers of the books I read and I ended the year having only painted 8 covers. I used a rather small sketchbook which made the painting process less daunting. I too was sucked in by those TikTok ads to buy acrylic marker pens and they’ve surprisingly come in handy for this! It was such a fun and relaxing way to unwind from all the screens I’m looking at constantly during the day for work and also for streaming.
  • Return to blogging (FOR REAL THIS TIME I SWEAR)
    • On the blog, I’ve only been posting my month rewinds for the last year or so. And it’s made me feel pretty guilty. 2025 was a bit lacking in the creative department. And this blog is where a lot of my creative endeavours first began. I do talk about the books I read on stream (twitch.tv/zaheerah) but I haven’t written a full review in sooo long. I swear my Netgalley TBR will be dealt with this year!

I’m not a goal setter as I find that I don’t end up following them so these two goals seem open enough that I will commit to them rather than abandoning them in the future.

My reading pattern for this year has been pretty consistent! I’ve found that I am much more picky with the books I read since I have less time to do so which means I didn’t dislike many of the books I read this year! (Don’t get me wrong, there was a few books I really, really hated but I don’t want to highlight them ahah) I’ve read a ton of fun books this year, especially webtoons!

Continue reading “Reading Recap 2025!” →
Monthly Rewind

Monthly Rewind: December 2025

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Monthly Rewind: December 2025
Monthly Rewind: December 2025

B O O K S

In December, I read 11 books!

For transparency, every book marked with * are titles I received for free as I currently work at PRH UK.

Good Spirits

Harriet York finds herself visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, a grumpy Nolan Callahan, who has no idea why he’s haunting the seemingly kind Harriet.

My 2026 reading goal should be to block HarperCollins on TikTok so I can stop lurking on their livestreams and be tempted by their discounts because this is now the 5th book I’ve bought on there and found myself sorely disappointed. I never read seasonally but I thought I would give a Christmas book a chance this time around. The only scene I liked was the mistletoe scene but everything else was such a bore. It started off strong and I liked the head butting between Harriet and Nolan but it went downhill so fast once they immediately became attracted to each other without any sort of development. Their relationship moves too fast to feel remotely satisfying as a reader.

Spoilers!

Soulmates being the answer to everything immediately ruined it for me. All that development and mystery with Nolan and it was as simple as the two of them being soulmates felt SO lacklustre.

Heated Rivalry

I too have joined the Heated Rivalry hype. I thought the book was fun! Nothing too standout but an enjoyable quick read. I do appreciate how well the TV show adapted the book! I know it’s easier with a modern contemporary novel but I’ve been burnt out too many times by adaptations.

A Lonely Broadcast: Book One

Firewatch meets The Magnus Archives! I liked this a lot! The creepy and gory details really made this book. I would’ve loved a bit more characterisation from the main leads. I rarely read horror because I prefer visual horror (like movies, tv and games) but this one had been stuck to my kindle for HOURS.

Game Changer

I loved Shane and Kip’s story so much! I understand why Shane and Ilya are the standout couple of the series but I really appreciated the slower development of Shane and Kip’s story.

Upward Bound*

A tale of community that follows the residents and workers of a day care centre for Los Angeles’s disabled residents. I really enjoyed the different perspectives in this book. I thought it would just stick to just the workers and residents but seeing even chapters from people who are passing by really made this unique! Hearing the different perspectives made this such a immersive story!

Last Breath, Black Dawn, Bitter Blood, Fall of Night, Daylighters (Morganville #11 – 15)

Did I panic and realise that it was already December and I hadn’t finished my Morganville re-read so I read the last 5 books in a month? Why, yes. Yes, I did. Reading the last book 5 in quick succession made me realise how unhinged the last few books in the series was. Especially because it goes from the Draug and Daylighter Foundation as villains in the space of like two books. I loved re-reading the series and I can’t wait to do my re-read of the Great Library series in the new year!

A Lonely Broadcast: Book Two

Such an improvement in Book Two! I felt like the story really grew into its own here! I’m so excited to see what Book Three will have in store! Although I do wish the series was separated by having their own names.

Also, if anything happens to Daniel, I am single-handedly that fuck ass monster in the woods myself.

That’s it for this month! Tell me what went on in YOUR life this month! What sort of things was important for you this month? New obsessions? New TV shows? Or book? Any new song recs (I’m always open to new music!)? Best books you read this month?

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